College Hockey Scoreboard from CHN

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

CHA Tournament Preview

The College Hockey America Tournament opens Friday afternoon in Grand Rapids, Minn., at the IRA Civic Center. All six CHA teams – Bemidji State, Alabama-Huntsville, Niagara, Wayne State, Air Force and Robert Morris – will participate with BSU and UAH getting byes into the semifinals based on their 1-2 finish in the regular season.

In the first quarterfinal Friday at 4:35 p.m., Niagara, the third seed, plays last-place Robert Morris. The Purple Eagles (14-18-2, 9-9-2 CHA) won the tournament last year while the Colonials (8-20-4, 4-14-2 CHA) are a first-year program. During the regular season, NU went 1-2-1 versus Robert Morris with their lone win coming last Saturday at home.

The second quarterfinal pits fourth-seeded Wayne State (14-16-4, 7-9-4 CHA) against Air Force (13-18-3, 5-14-1 CHA) at 8:35 p.m. The Warriors won the CHA tournament in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and made it to the semifinals last year before falling to eventual champion Niagara. WSU and Air Force last met Feb. 26-27 in Plymouth with the Warriors getting a win and a tie. Air Force won the first game this year between the two teams back on Dec. 3, but finished 1-2-1 against the Detroiters.